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Iowa anglers need to be vigilant for fearsome fish
An official with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is warning the state’s anglers to be on the lookout for a ferocious, toothy type of fish that spawned a horror movie in the early 2000s. It’s called the northern snakehead and it’s native to places like China, Russia, and the Koreas.
Kim Bogenschuts, the state’s aquatic invasive species program coordinator, says it’s believed snakeheads reached the U-S as aquarium fish for collectors, though they’re not friendly with other fish.
“They can get to be over three feet long,” Bogenschuts says. “They’ve got really big teeth and are very aggressive, which is why sometimes people then get rid of them.” If those “pets” were dumped into waterways, that would explain why the fearsome fish are finding their way into the Mississippi River, though none have been confirmed in Iowa’s waters, at least not yet.
The northern snakehead is tan with dark brown splotches in a pattern that may resemble a python’s skin and a head that looks, well, snakelike. Bogenschuts says it might be mistaken for a couple of native Iowa fish.
“If people are familiar with what we call our bowfin or dogfish, which is a long, tubular, muscular fish, the snakeheads look similar to that,” she says, “although their heads are more flattened, and they do have scales on their heads.”
In addition to having bands of sharp teeth and a vicious temperament, the northern snakehead is especially renowned for being able to survive on land — for several days at a time.
“If they’re in wet grass, wet vegetation, they can slither through it because they can get enough oxygen from the moisture,” Bogenschuts says. “They’re also capable of kind of like burrowing in the sediments, so if the water levels drop down, they can still get air from the moisture where they’re at.”
It’s that unusual behavior that prompted horror filmmakers to focus on a fictionalized version of the feisty fish.
“Back when they were first found in the U.S., there were a few movies made, ‘Snakehead Terror‘ and things like that, where these giant fish were walking across the land and, you know, eating people,” Bogenschuts says. “It’s not quite that scary, well, it is scary for our native species.”
Iowans who think they’ve caught a snakehead should snap a photo of it and send the pic to the DNR. Bogenschuts says the fish should not be released — but killed — and do not leave the body on shore. She notes, snakeheads are supposed to be quite tasty to eat.
